Payson Roundup | Payson, AZ

Editor:

Democrats disgrace themselves.

Jan. 17 was Martin Luther King Day, honoring Dr. King. It is also a day to remember Jan. 17, 1874 when armed Democrats seized the Texas state house, ending Republican efforts to racially integrate government.

Considering the Democratic Party's anti-black history, it is not surprising that they turned Coretta Scott King's funeral last week into a platform for petty, partisan politics. They came not to honor an honorable lady, but to use her. Even a former president, Carter, took cheap shots at, and in the presence of, our current president, George W. Bush.

Why do Democrats disgrace themselves like this? Have they no shame?

Perhaps a look at just this month, February, in history will provide a clue:

1856 -- Feb. 22: First national meeting of the Republican Party to co-ordinate opposition to Democrat's pro-slavery policies.

1864 -- Feb. 9: One hundred thousand signatures delivered to U.S. Senate in support of Republican plans for a constitutional amendment to ban slavery.

1870 -- Feb. 3: The 15th Amendment granting the vote to all Americans, regardless of race passed the House with 98 percent Republican support and 97 percent Democrat opposition.

1871 -- Feb. 28: Republican Congress passes Enforcement Act providing federal protection to Afro-American voters.

1894 -- Democrat President Cleveland and Democratic Congress join to repeal the Republican Enforcement Act.

1909 -- Feb. 12: Afro-American Republicans and women suffragettes co-found NAACP.

1959 -- Feb. 4: President Eisenhower reveals his plan to introduce the 1960 Civil Rights Act, despite staunch opposition from many Democrats.

And so, Hillary, which party is it that actually runs the Plantation?

A former Democrat,

Carol Suhr, Payson